Carl Arvin “Charlie” Jernander is one of my great-great grandfathers. Charlie’s parents were both immigrants. His father, Carl Gustaf Jernander, came to the US in 1868 from Sweden; his mother, Hansine Pauline Andreasdr, from Norway in 1870.
Back: Selma, Hilda, Oscar, Charlie, Pearl;
Front: Agnes, Albert, Hazel, Carl, Aaron, Hansine, Roy
Missing Children: “Jelma” (1881-1883) and “Petie” (1900-1929)
Taken 1897 in La Crosse, WI.
Charlie was born April 5, 1877 in Rochester, Minnesota. He was the 3rd child of 12 in the family. In Rochester, the family lived with Carl Sr.’s older brother, Anders Emil Jernander. Emil was an inventor and had a patent on a “Machine For Cleaning or Scouring Wheat.”
In 1880 the family left Rochester and moved to the La Crosse, WI area. Carl Sr. filed a patent for an automatic belt tightener in 1892 and became the manager of the pump house in La Crosse. Charlie worked for him for a while and became a skilled plumber.
In 1898 Charlie married Josephine Opsahl. Shortly after the birth of their first son in 1899, the family moved to Moline, IL with a couple of Charlie’s siblings. In 1903 they moved back to Wisconsin and Charlie purchased some land in Christiana Township, Vernon County, WI and farmed there until 1935.
Charlie and Josie had 8 children. 4 boys and 4 girls:
- Irven Justin Jernander (1899-1936)
- Oliver Vernon Jernander (1902-1929)
- Myrtle Henrietta Wang (1905-1979)
- Vernie Jernander (1909-1909)
- Evelyn Inga Dunnum (1911-2013)
- Ruth Harriet Olson (1913-2008)
- Lester Henry Jernander (1915-1967)
- Hazel Margaret Hanson (1920-1989)
Taken abt. 1908 probably in La Crosse, WI
Josie died in 1940. Charlie passed away at a Viroqua hospital on March 27, 1958 at 80 years old. He rests at the Moen Cemetery in Cashton, WI. His obituary is linked here.
Charlie loved to play the banjo!
*Cheers*
The Genealogy Nerd 
